Conclusion Eating garlic reduces the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood and so helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. ████████ ████ ██████ ██████ ███████ █████ ██████ ██ ████ █ █████ ██ ████████ ██████ █ ██████ ██████ ████ ███ ███ ████ ██████ ██████ █ ██ ███████ █████████ ██ ███████████ ███ █ ██ ███████ █████████ ██ ██████████████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ █ █████ ██ ███████ ████████ ██████ █ █████████ █████ ██████ ██████ ████ █ █ ███████ █████████ ██ █████████████ ███ █ █ ███████ █████████ ██ ████████████
The author hypothesizes that eating garlic reduces cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood, thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. This conclusion is based on a study showing that people who took a daily garlic tablet over four months had a larger reduction in cholesterol and triglycerides than people who took a medically inert tablet.
The author assumes that cholesterol and triglycerides levels in the blood are related to the risk of cardiovascular disease. She also assumes that the benefits seen in the group of patients who took the garlic tablet were caused by the garlic and not by something else, like exercise or other lifestyle factors.
It would be most important ██ █████████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ██████████ ███ █████████
whether the garlic ███████ ███ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████
We don’t care if the general public can easily access garlic tablets. We just want to know whether garlic causes a reduction in cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood.
what the diets ██ ███ ███ ██████ ████ ██████ ███ ██████
Knowing this would be helpful. If the two groups had very different diets, then the first group might have seen greater reductions in their cholesterol and triglycerides not because of the garlic, but because of something else in their diet. If the two groups' diets were similar, that alternate possibility would be ruled out and the argument would be strengthened.
Weaken: Introduce or suggest an alternate explanation for the target phenomenon.
Strengthen: Helps to eliminate an alternate explanation for the target phenomenon.
what effect taking ███ ██████ ███████ ████ ███ ███ █ ██████ ██ ████ ████ ████ ██████ ███ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███████████ ███ █████████████
Irrelevant. Even if the effects of garlic don’t kick in until the four-month point, those effects are still real, and might contribute to a reduction in the risk of heart disease.
whether large amounts ██ ██████ ███ ████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████
Irrelevant. We don't know how much garlic is a \"large amount\", and we're not necessarily talking about all patients. The argument is just saying there is a causal connection between consuming garlic and seeing lower levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.
whether the manufacturer ██ ███ ██████ ███████ █████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ███████████
Irrelevant. Whether or not the advertiser cites this study after it was performed doesn't necessarily tell us anything about the study's accuracy.
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